This Finnish fashion brand has turned old McDonald's uniforms into high-fashion workwear take a look
- Vain, a Finnish fashion brand, has crafted a fashion collection from upcycled McDonald's uniforms.
- Vain CEO Roope Reinola says the line was inspired by McDonald's "cultural omnipresence."
A Finnish fashion brand has teamed up with McDonald's to upcycle old workwear into 13 high-fashion looks.
Vain CEO Roope Reinola says the line was inspired by McDonald's "cultural omnipresence."
The work uniforms include familiar colors, patterns, and details that reference McDonald's commercial style and branding.
McDonald's is one of the few visual references that is recognizable to most people in the world, Reinola said.
"That was actually a fascinating idea to work with," she added.
Old McDonald's uniforms account for 95% of the materials used in the collection.
The extra 5% of details the company added were also sourced from recycled materials.
Reinola said McDonald's iconic Golden Arches were an emblem of pop culture when she was growing up in rural Finland.
"Everything felt so far away," she said. "One of the very few things that felt familiar to us were the iconic Golden Arches."
It was McDonald's that made the first move
"McDonald's Finland has a track record of doing projects with upcoming local artists. They approached us," Reinola said. "Obviously, we were curious so we set up initial meetings."
Reinola said it was clear from the start they would be working with old staff uniforms.
The company contacted different McDonald's locations asking for any old staff wear they had left over.
Along with the uniforms, Reinola also got hold of some fabric banners and other pieces of McDonald's branding that were used in the collection.
While the core idea was to make staff uniforms for McDonald's employees, the company still needed to find a way to bring its own unique touch to the clothes.
"We needed to find that perfect point of balance," Reinola said. "We definitely feel like we managed to do that."
"The individual pieces have the features of workwear, for example, the fit of the leather jacket has been optimized for an ergonomic working position while standing."
The McDonald's collection is not up for sale.
"It is not really a commercial project," Reinola said. "It was simply a super interesting opportunity from a design perspective."
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